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1. c. MILLER.

, BOTTLE WASHING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION man JUNE H. 1917.

1 ,3 1 6,457. Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

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1. c. MILLER. BOTTLE WASHING MECHANISM.

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L'C. MILLER.

BOTTLE WASHING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED [JUNE 15. 19:7.

' Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

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p at of t rs et n Patented Sept. 16511919.

" Original application filed May 21, 1906, SerialNo. 317,918. Dividedand: this application filed' Jnne:15, 191-7.

Serial No. 174,914.

which. the following isa specification.

This invention relates. to:mechanism for washing or cleaning bottles.

One object of the invention is to provide improved means for washing or-scrubbing bottles.

Another object ofthexinvent-ion is, to provide-Ian improved brush adapted to thor- -..ouglrly and-efficiently clean the interior of a ibottle.

WVith. these and other objects in View, the invention consists of the combination or combinations of elements hereinafter set forth.

This. application is a division of my application Ser. :No. 317,918, filed May 21,

For the purpose of illustration, I-have,

. in the accompanying drawings, shown and 7 herein described oneform of brush embodyinginyinvention.

Figure 1 1S arfragmentary top, plan v1ew ofa machine hQVl-llgvbI-HSllBS. embodying my invention.

-- Fig. 2 is-arfragnientary side elevation of the parts. shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 1 and 5 are detail views.

:Eig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the brushes.

Fig. '1; is a view of the brush with, parts broken away.

In the drawings, A indlcates the mam frame of; the machine only part of which is shown. The frame A preferably. comprises side plates Qwhich carry the working parts of the machine. C. indicates a washing mechanism arranged to wash inverted bot- The bottles are preferably, mounted in-racks and lowered and raised relative to advancing bottles or .groups of bottles 'ithrongh-the machine step by step gandH is The brushes-with which-the machineis provided. At the topvv of the-,machaneare formed oppositexralls. ongmdeways 9y-for' properly dithe: power transmitting devices 1 on" thes-xmaerably comprise ai duriving shaft 3-, fwhichois adapted to. suitable-bearings at-..one. side.of the machlne. "The shaft 3 is driven, in: any

suitable manner. :Thera shaft 3 provided with an" inclineetootlrgear 5,:and: a Worm. 6. gear v5 serves: ton rotate ftheescrubbing rooting through the; machine said '-.bottlecarrying racks,;-.which are movedsalongni succession over. therails 9by-reason of their engagement with projecting-studs 10, pref- .comprisesa water tank, head or chest 18 and erablycarried-upon opposite.intermittently a series of w shers 01 scrubbing de e .suchas brushes 2O forcleaning. the-interiors.

of the bottles, this, series of brushesbeing comblned with intervening scrubbing devices such as brushes QOflfQr-cleansing the exteriors. of the bottles.

The present machine is designed fornse 1n connectlon wlth a rack carrying twelve bottles arranged; inthree, rows of four. each,

hence there. are twelve main brushes;20. correspondingly disposed, Land six :interme'di-x I ate bru'shes" 20, disposed in; two, rows of three each, $01 that each of said intermediate brushes will act upon the exterior. portions of; four bottles, :as; will be understood upon reference to Fig. 1.

Y Each; :of the brush spindles 19. issecured at its lower end to-a tubular s1eeve 53,; which 1s split at the uppervendandyprovided with a tapering thread forthe i ecepitiQn; of a lclampinginuto l, wherebyit maybe secured to-theflowerend of the spindle 19,-.,eacl1 sleeve 53; turning in :a --bearing in .5 the top plate of the chest' 18, and 7 in bearing in a plate 55 above; the sameand spaced therefrom. 1 Between the plate 5.5;and. the chest18 each sleeve 53 iswprovidedwitha spnr wheel 56 or ,57, the. spur" wheels 56. corresponding with the brushes 20, meshing ;-with each othergbut the spun wheels "5.7 corresponding-5' with the brushes 20 meshing only with certain of the spur wheels 56, since it is manifest that said spur wheels 57 cannot mesh with all of the spur wheels 56 because of the contrary directions in which the latter run.

All of the spur wheels 57, therefore, have the upper portions of their teeth cut away and those of the spur wheels 56, which it is not desired to mesh with the spur wheels 57 have the lower portions of their teeth cut away, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the spur wheels 57 mesh only with those spur wheels 56, which have full teeth.

Each of the brushes 20 consists of a spindle 19 that is hollow from end to end thus permitting the cleaning solution to flow therethrough from the chest 18. 19 indicates the fiber material which is secured to the spindle 19. The fiber material extends spirally around the spindle to form a continuous brush from the free end of the spindle downwardly a distance substantially equal to the length of a bottle to be cleaned. This arrangement insures that every part of the bottle wall will be engaged by the brush material. It also permits the convolutions of the brush material to be spaced from each other and the discharge therebetween of jets or streams of cleaning solution to assist the brushes in washing the walls of the bottles. For this latter purpose, the spindle 19 is formed with a plurality of jet openings, preferably uniformly spaced from each other and extending spirally around the spindle between the convolutions of the fiber material. The fiber material may be secured to the spindle 19 in any desired manner. Preferably the spindle is formed with a spiral groove and the fiber material is held in the groove by a wire or band.

59 indicates a ring of brush material arranged at the free end of each spindle 19. The ring-shaped brush 59 preferably surrounds the opening 60 in the spindle end and flares outwardly in order to engage the bottle bottom and annular recess formed by the union of the bottle sides and bottom.

The brushes 20 may be constructed in a similar manner except that the ring 59 may be omitted, since it would, in the brush 20 serve no useful purpose.

The brush-carrying chest 18 has no vertical movement, and as the said head or chest 18 and the scrubbing devices carried thereby are arranged in a horizontal plane below the plane of the remaining washing, rinsing and sterilizing mechanisms of the machine, it is necessary to raise and lower the bot tles, in the manner already referred to, in

order to permit of the entry of the brushes I into them and of the proper action of the brushes thereon. For this reason that portion of each of the rails 9 which is adjacent to the brushes is disconnected from the remaining portions of said rails 9, these disconnected portions of the rails being united by transverse bars 9, so as to form a frame which can be raised and lowered, and upon which each of the bottle carrying racks comes to rest for a time at a certain point in its travel through the machine.

When a tray has been pushed on to the rising and falling frame the latter. with the rack containing the inverted bottles is lowered, so that the vertically projecting brushes 20 enter the bottles and the brushes 21 rise between the same.

The bottles are rotated by frictional contact with the brushes 20, but at a slower rate of speed than the brushes themselves, each brush 2O acting upon all parts of the interior of its respective bottle and each brush 20 acting upon the exterior of each bottle, with which it is in contact.

In order to prevent the bottles from be-v ing lifted from the rack by the upward push of the brushes thereon, the secondary frame has at each side vertical bars 71, bent in wardly and downwardly at their upper ends, so as to be free from engagement with the side frames of the machine, the inner ends of these bars carrying a plate 72, of wire gauze or other light material, which, by contact with the bottoms of the bottles, serves to retain the same in their proper vertical position.

A brush embodying my invention has many advantages, among which may be mentioned the following: (a) It is efficient in operation since the brush material is rotated in a direction substantially in line with the plane in which the material is disposed; accordingly, the material resists flexing in that direction and this resistance causes the brush to operate efiectively on the walls of the bottle; (5) the brush being continuous throughout its length, it engages with every part of the bottle wall; and (a) cleaning so- 110 lution is uniformly applied to all parts of the brush between the convolutions of the material, the solution being discharged in jets which coeperate in an efi ective manner with the brush fiber. If desired, the clean- 115 ing solution can be forced through the jet openings under pressure; and (d) by spirally arranging the brush fiber around the spindle and spacing the convolutions of the spiral, the fibers will readily be flexed later- 120 ally when the bottle is placed over the brush and removed therefrom.

It will be evident that many modifications of the brush can be made without interfering with the general structure and purpose 125 of the same, hence I wish it to be understood that my disclosures and the description herei in are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting, as widely the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A brush comprising a hollow spindle, a spiral row of fiber material fixed thereto and arranged to form a relatively large number of convolutions of uniform length, said spindle being formed with a spiral row of 10 Jet openings extending midway between adjacent convolutions of the fiber material, and a ring of fiber material extending laterally from the free end of said spindle.

2. A brush comprising a hollow spindle, a

spiral row of fiber material fixed thereto and arranged to form a relatively large number of convolutions of uniform length, said spindle being formed with a spiral row of jet openings extending midway between adjacent oonvolutions of the fiber material and a jet opening at its free end, and a ring of fiber material extending laterally from the free end of said spindle and surrounding the opening therein.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

JOHN C, MILLER.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

